Neal Ingraham Callaghan is an Honours Biochemistry graduate from Mount Allison University. Originally from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada, Neal began his studies at Mount Allison in the Fall 2010 semester. Throughout his undergraduate years, he expertly and successfully balanced his academics, research, and extra-curricular activities.

Neal ranked as a Dean’s List student in every year. In the summer between his 2nd and 3rd years, he was awarded a Carnegie Summer Research Award, which he chose to hold in the lab of Dr. Tyson J. MacCormack, where he assisted in studies on the molecular mechanisms of nanoparticle toxicity in fish and in vitro serum models. In the summer of 2013, Neal was awarded the Goodridge Summer Undergraduate Award and began doing research with Chris. He continued the work he began over the summer towards an undergraduate honours thesis over the 2013-2014 academic year. The overall scope of Neal’s work was to study the regulation of oxidoreductases in response to nanoparticle toxicity in fish- specifically white muscle lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)- and attempt to define any mechanisms by which it is regulated.

Neal has been a teaching assistant for a plethora of courses, including the laboratory components of: 1) Introductory Chemistry I (CHEM 1001), 2) Evolution, Ecology, and the Diversity of Organisms (BIOL 1001), 3) Organic Chemistry I (CHEM 2111), and 4) Enzymology and Metabolism (BIOC 2001). He has also been a tutor for the Physics student society, and for 2nd-year Biochemistry courses. In his “spare” time, he has avidly participated in the extensive Shinerama campaign held annually at Mount Allison; on Shine Day 2012, he had the role of “Super Shiner.” He has also participated as a mentor in the Global Health subgroup of Leadership Mount Allison, as a campus tour ambassador, and was the vice-president of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu club. Neal served as VP Biochem of the MTA Chemistry and Biochemistry Society for the 2013-2014 academic year.

How did his past experience help him get where he is now?“My current research focuses on engineered substrates for stem cell culture. One of my aims is to develop an ideal substrate free of animal or bacterial products to maintain stem cell pluripotency for downstream applications. A second aim is to use the physical, nanoscale topography of the substrate to direct stem cell differentiation to desired phenotypes. This research relies on the blending of several fields that I’ve touched on in the lab and lecture hall with Dr. Dieni, including protein biochemistry, signal transduction, organic chemistry, and cell biology.”